Blinkist is a website that gives users the opportunity to consume long non-fiction books in roughly 10 – 15 minutes.
These books would normally take days or weeks to read depending on your schedule and most of either don’t have that much time or want to read more books in that time period.
Blinkist works by condensing these books into just the key points so that you can get the gist of the information within the book. They provide text and audio so you can learn what you need to learn within a short space of time.
Their content library contains around 4500 titles in categories such as personal development, parenting, motivation & inspiration, science, psychology, philosophy and more.
Mobile apps for both Apple & Android make this book summary service even more accessible and convenient for our busy lifestyles.
How To Get Blinkist For Free
To get started with Blinkist, you can sign up for a free account. Free users can get one book summary every day that is chosen by the Blinkist content team.
This basic account which is free allows you to preview the service but the main drawback being that you have no control over which books they’ll send.
There is a way to get some unlimited access to Blinkist if you tell your friends about the service.
With your basic account, you get a unique invite link which you can use to invite your friends. For each friend that signs up to Blinkist, you’re rewarded with 7 days of unlimited access.
These are two ways in which you can use Blinkist without a premium account. For uninterrupted service, you’ll need to get a premium account which starts with a 7 day free trial.
How To Start Your Blinkist 7 Day Free Trial
Having a free account where you can get 7 days free by inviting friends isn’t the same as having Premium access.
There are some features that you can only access with a Premium account. These will be unlocked when you start your 7 day free trial of Blinklist Premium.
Here’s a step-by-step guide for signing up to Blinklist’s premium service starting with the free trial.
1. Log into your free account
You’ll need to create a free account with Blinkist to get started. You can do this by creating an email and password or you can sign up with Facebook.
Once you have an account, make sure you’re logged in to get started.
2. Click the “Upgrade to Premium” button
Once you’re logged in you can click on the green button in the header of the site.
In the screenshot below, I’m on the free 7 day unlimited access by inviting a friend so the green button which is supposed to be at (1) is gone. If you haven’t invited anyone, the button is supposed to be here.
To find the upgrade button though, just click the “You” link for the drop down menu and then click on Settings.
This will open up your settings page where you’ll find info on which subscription plan you’re on. If you’re on a Free plan, you’ll see the upgrade button.
Click on the upgrade button to continue.
3. Choose a plan
Clicking on the upgrade button takes you to the pricing page where you have two options.
You can choose between an annual subscription or you can choose to pay monthly. The monthly plan doesn’t have a free trial option and is only $14.99/month.
To continue with with the free trial of Premium, you’ll need to choose the Premium yearly option.
Even if you really want to pay monthly, choosing this option is better because you can try it out without getting charged for 7 days. You can always cancel your account before the trial is over then go with monthly.
The advantage of going yearly though is that it works out much cheaper at $7.49 per month than if you kept a monthly subscription for an entire year. You’d pay almost half with an annual subscription and won’t have to worry about monthly billing.
4. Enter billing information
The next step is to enter your billing information. You aren’t charged until the trial period is over.
You can choose to pay with either PayPal or credit card. If you have a discount code, you can enter it at this point.
Finish entering your details and click the “Start free trial” button.
5. Enjoy your free 7 day trial
You’ll get a popup asking you how you heard of Blinkist. This is totally optional so you can either click on one of the answers or click the x to remove it.
You’ll see a message confirming that you have started your trial.
Check your email for information on your free trial subscription and continue exploring Blinkist on your mobile phone with either app or in your browser.
How To Cancel Your Blinkist Free Trial
Now that you’re on your Blinkist free 7 day trial, you may prefer not to be charged automatically when the trial is over or you may want to discontinue your service.
Whatever the reason, Blinkist makes it easy for you to cancel your premium subscription during the trial period so you don’t get charged.
Follow the steps below to cancel your Blinkist subscription before your free trial ends. You can always purchase Premium right after the trial is over.
1. Go to Settings page
Once logged in, click on “You” at the top of the page, then click on Settings.
Your account settings should show that you’re on the Blinkist Premium Trial along with other details.
You should see the link to “Cancel subscription”. Click this link to continue.
2. Turn off auto-renewal
Blinkist presents you with a short survey because they want to know the reason you’re deactivating your auto-renewal.
You’ll be presented with some valid reasons why someone might cancel their subscription. I just chose the first one then clicked the button.
3. You’re done
You’ll be redirected back to the settings page where you’ll see that your subscription was cancelled and that you won’t be charged when the trial ends.
You will also get a confirmation email and you can still enjoy your Blinkist Premium subscription for the remainder of the trial period.
Why Upgrade to Blinkist Premium?
While you can get to access unlimited book summaries on a free plan by inviting your friends, you’ll still be missing out by not being a Blinkist premium member.
With a premium plan which cost $14.99 monthly or around $90 per year ($7.49/month), you will be able to:
If reading and learning is important to you then a Blinkist subscription will probably allow you to consume more books in less time. Try it out with a Blinkist free trial for 7 days.
